


You Need A Nap

by TaiJanai



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Bees, Ghostbur - mentioned, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Tommyinnit - mentioned - Freeform, because hes a simp, but ranboos got a bit of a crush, can be seen as shipping, i didnt tag the relationship tho, just bros napping together, pretty angsty but ranboo tries to help, the original title was nap-iary, they have socks on its not gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28407306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaiJanai/pseuds/TaiJanai
Summary: Ranboo is a third wheel, and oblivious to nobody’s feelings except his own. But that’s not what we’re gonna focus on. Tubbo hasn’t gotten much sleep, so Ranboo offers his enderman-y chilliness to help him take a nap :).This could take place at any time since Tommy’s been exiled.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 139





	You Need A Nap

**Author's Note:**

> Tubbo he/they! He is also kind of like a bee because his body temperature drops as he sleeps. 
> 
> Ranboo is part enderman, so his body doesn’t give off heat, and he can read a creature’s aura.
> 
> Tubbo and Tommy’s relationship is viewed as platonic soulmates :)

In the silence, there was the sound of a sigh. Ranboo looked up at the moon at its peak. He was used to being the awkward stand-out. Hell, he could stand being a third wheel. 

This whole _soulmates’ quarrel_ thing was a bit much, though. 

Tommy always pretended like he wasn’t worried about how Tubbo felt about him, but how he spoke and all the sudden loneliness and insecurity kind of gave it away. Ranboo would catch him looking in his ender chest, focusing on a specific point, then closing it as if he was acting normal. 

“Normal” is something that cannot be precisely pinned onto with Tommy. He’ll say how Dream took his stuff and is trying to get him to hate Tubbo, but will still speak about him like an old friend. He’ll say how lonely he is but get mad if someone tries to give him items. He’s done things that he berates himself later for. He spells words wrong without intention to fix them.

It’s awful to watch, and Ranboo is sure it’s worse when someone isn’t watching it progressively happen. Like Tubbo was.

He’s trying his best as a president. Ranboo knows that, everyone knows that, even Tommy. He’s trying his best to keep his country whole until Tommy can come back. Maybe that’s why he forgives them. Or maybe it’s just because Tommy can't stand being mad at Tubbo. 

Going back and forth between them has been a figurative roller coaster. Even just being alone with Tommy is a mess in of itself, what with his rapid mood swings and immediate clinginess. Going back to Tubbo’s composed yet somber mindset, however, makes Ranboo notice how different the pair really are from one another. 

Every time he thought about it, they just sounded like a couple of anime protagonists to Ranboo. He’d even written down the classic tropes of the main character and their usual childhood buddy. 

In the end, the middleman doesn’t know exactly which side he’s on. He’s disappointed that there are even sides in the first place.

Tommy had been lonely and pitiful, as much as he hated to admit. You can’t watch someone get thrown out of the land they fought for by their dearest friend and honestly think they deserve it. Ranboo promised friendship, and Tommy returned it. He was nice when he wanted to be, and was awfully protective, but indefinitely to a fault. Tommy cared about his discs. He could have his friends hold onto them all he wanted, but they were what mattered most to him. Aside from -or even more than- L’Manberg and Tubbo, they were the only things he would ever really fight for. 

The thought of the only important things to Tommy brought Ranboo’s worry to the compass. 

Tommy could hide it away all he wanted, but that bit of iron and redstone was tied around his heartstrings. If there’s one thing Ranboo would want to know for certain, it's what Tommy truly values the compass as. 

He already knows how Tubbo feels about his own compass. Anyone who noticed it had as well. He had brought it everywhere, along with his silly map with the picture of Tommy’s face, before they got destroyed. Tommy himself would probably call it clingy if he knew, but Ranboo wasn’t too sure he agreed. It was kind of funny, and most definitely sentimental, but it just showed how much Tubbo cares and misses their buddy. It seemed to be the polar opposite to how Tommy treated his own, avoiding it but still catching glimpses like a guilty pleasure. 

To each it was their own punishment. Tubbo, guilty and angry with himself, kept the punishment on his person as a constant reminder. When he lost it, he seemed more irritable and impatient. On the other hand, Tommy kept as far away from it as he could, the ache of homesickness resting in his soul whenever he thought too much about it. He was too proud to punish himself. His isolation was punishment enough. Maybe it won’t be punishment if he comes back, but it was for now.

Ranboo caught himself in his thoughts. _“When,” not “If” Tommy comes home. When_ he’s allowed back.

He had been mindlessly collecting wood as he thought to himself. Wilbur- or, Ghostbur asked him a while ago to collect spruce and oak for him from L’Manberg to repair as much of Logstedshire as possible. The living one of the two was happy to help.

Ghostbur wasn’t online at the moment, but Ranboo thought it would be something nice to come back to. 

After collecting and replanting the seeds of two stacks of each type of tree, he left the wood in a chest at the destroyed Logstedshire’s doorstep, with a sign that read, “To Ghostbur: Ranboo got the logs :)”

He left as quickly as he came, stepping into the newer portal and watching the exile’s ex-campsite fade out of view.

The warmth of the nether engulfed him. Ranboo made his way back to L’Manberg along the broken cobble and obsidian bridge, passing a pair of zombie pigmen that stared as he walked by. 

He was teleported out of the nether. The familiar area around the community house filled his vision. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself now, so he decided to go and find Tubbo to see if they needed help with anything.

It was a quiet walk across the SMP. There was the occasional meow of a cat from someone's house -because somehow the people here had managed to tame more cats than dogs- or the falling of water. 

Once you overlook all the creeper holes and tyranny, the SMP can be pretty peaceful. 

Ranboo considered L’Manberg a nice place, because it’s not like he only got shot there. His first deaths on the server were from Dream in the mainland of the SMP. He was never killed in anger or anything, and he sure never killed anyone else, either. Some of the only people he liked to hang out with would kill him on a regular basis. 

He wondered about the people in L’Manberg. Niki and Fundy left, right? Does Quackity still associate himself with L’Manberg, now that he’s part of leading El Rapids? 

What did Ranboo even want the next presidency for?

His steps faltered along with his thoughts as he reached the entrance to L’Manberg and the prime path. He took a deep breath and thought about if he should ask Tubbo where he is.

He decided to look where he would most likely be.

Ranboo made his way east, towards the bee farm. 

The dome of glass gleamed in the light of the dawn. Tubbo’s name tag was shown bobbing around slowly inside. 

Ranboo entered the pair of doors and nodded to his friend.

“‘Ello, Ranbo’,” spoke a sleepy voice.

“Yo.”

The president was breeding bees and trying to lead them to the lower level of hives. He was so gentle with them, and spoke in a hushed voice. They themself seemed sweeter to the bees than the actual flowers.

A few baby bees popped out, and Tubbo grinned. Ranboo watched him fondly. He noticed small bits that had changed on the smaller one. There were dark spots under his eyes, and his bandana-tie was tied more haphazardly than normal, as if it was undone and then tucked back under his lapel rapidly. 

After running out of bees to breed, they looked around for any hives full of honey, only spotting two full ones. Tubbo yawned. 

“You tired, Tubbo?” Ranboo asked.

The other ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah, I…” he said, trailing off.

Ranboo turned his full attention to his friend. 

“You been sleeping alright?”

Tubbo looked away.

“Not… Not since…”

They brought their left hand to their mouth, biting the nail of their thumb. The other gripped the pair of shears he had tightly. His offhand was empty.

“How ‘bout we take a nap? I haven't slept all night, either,” Ranboo offered, trying to lighten the mood with a laugh. “There are beds in here.” It wasn’t the same for him, though. Not sleeping for a while isn’t a big deal when you aren’t exactly human. He knew the smaller of the two knew that, but they collectively chose to ignore the fact.

Tubbo twisted back to watch Ranboo place the beds beside each other. one had been dyed blue. Maybe with Ghostbur’s blue. He glanced back at the rising sun.

“... Yeah.”

Ranboo set up his pillows for maximum comfort, a mostly upright position. The other climbed into the blue bed beside him. Neither of them pulled up the blankets, it was just a nap after all.

Tubbo laid his head down, face up. After a second, they noticed it wasn’t all that comfortable, so they sat up and scooted closer to their friend, using him as a pillow. His head was against the taller’s chest, and his arms stilled on his own lap. 

Ranboo put an arm around him. He himself wasn’t a very physically warm person, but to awkwardly avoid skin contact wouldn’t be very comfortable for napping. 

The young president let his body temperature fall so he could drift off. Snuggling up to a heat-sapping source really helped. Going to sleep this easily felt unnatural. There was usually warmth that he had to adjust to, not this coolness of the air now that made him drowsy. 

At last, they were asleep. Ranboo watched Tubbo breathe at a terrifyingly slow pace. He leaned his head back against the wall which acted as a headboard. The hum of the bees and the weight against him put him gently to sleep as well.

There wasn’t much to dream about, and hardly enough time for it. 

All that was made in Ranboo’s mind was himself writing. It was something funny, he knew that, but when he tried to read it, there weren’t any words. There were people laughing. Not at his illiteracy, apparently, but at the words he had written. _What had he written?_

He blinked awake to a reddening sky. His small friend was leaning on him more than he was before. 

“Beh… Muh....” They breathed, barely audible.

Two words crowded Ranboo’s still-sleepy mind: “Sleep” and “Talking.” He had a hard time not laughing or waking up the other. 

_What did they say??_

__

__

“Beh, Muh.”

_Bem? Beg Me??? Buh- Beh- Bih…_

His shoulders relaxed as he realized. 

**Big Man.**

He stared down at the sleeping president with a soft sadness in his eyes. The dream didn’t seem bad, but Ranboo didn’t want to see if it was going to be. How could he comfort them?

A small movement caught Ranboo’s eye. Tubbo’s left hand twitched. It was facing up and laying on his pillow’s lap. 

The compass…

Ranboo cursed himself internally. He might not have been able to do much in the situation, but he couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for that awful mishap. Tubbo shouldn’t have lost it, and it hurts more that there’s no real thing that can be blamed. 

He hated thinking about it. It didn’t feel right, it didn’t even feel real. Ranboo knew, though, his guilt was nothing close to Tubbo’s own. 

The one awake searched his inventory. He plucked out a piece of iron, and placed it into his friend’s hand. It might not be the same shape, but it might feel the same as a compass. It’s made of the same stuff, right?

Tubbo’s fingers closed gently around the bit of metal. Their whole forearm scooted closer to them. Ranboo couldn’t see, but the smaller one smiled in his sleep, now comforted with the little ornament of Tommy’s friendship, or, the faux feeling of it.

With this newfound success, Ranboo gained a bit of courage.

“Wanna go steal some shit?” He whispered with the best British accent he could muster in as high a pitch as a whisper would allow.

Tubbo let out a quick exhale in a laugh. His aura lightened with joy, and Ranboo felt himself follow. 

For a moment, as the sun set, all of L’Manberg felt happier, softer, lighter. 

Maybe Ranboo is biased. 

He felt Tubbo’s honey-paced pulse against his chest. It’s been quite a bit since Tubbo’s given off a true positive aura.

Ranboo moved his thumb back and forth in a soothing motion absentmindedly against the president’s arm. Sitting still for such an amount of time was not anything close to his forte. 

An air of worry engulfed him. He hoped Tommy was doing okay. Not just for himself, not even just for L’Manberg, but for the young president. Maybe if -when- he comes back, everyone can be friends again. Drywaters will become an ally, El Rapids might get what they want -whatever that would be-, the Badlands could get their land north and south of the whole of L’Manberg and the SMP.

It was probably too hopeful, considering the situation, but it was nice to think about. If there wasn’t a person sleeping on him, Ranboo would probably go and see if Tommy and Techno were available, just to check on them. 

Tubbo shifted, and Ranboo was worried for a quick second if he had been thinking too loud. He’s heard of stuff about “manifesting,” maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be thinking so hard about Technoblade. Tubbo’s hand closed tightly around the iron ingot for a moment. Ranboo let out a hushed sigh.

Tubbo needs a friend. As does Tommy. The former isn't nearly as dramatic as the other, but that doesn’t mean he isn't as wrecked about this as he seems. Ranboo wished he knew what to do. He had no idea how to comfort someone with stuff like this.

“Mmbow,” Tubbo grunted.

Okay, that one was more familiar.

Ranboo blushed at the recognition of his own name. He’s in the dream too. 

Was Tubbo in his dream? He tilted his head, trying to remember. Who was there? 

He didn’t like the dream he had. It made him feel dumb. Feeling dumb about a dream made him feel even more dumb.

Ranboo let out an exhausted breath, holding in a loud groan. Out of anyone who could be used as a pillow, he has to be the absolute worst.

A pair of bees flew close to them, attracted to the sleeping president and the flowers in his pocket. Ranboo held up a finger to his lips to the bees, who took a second to understand. He may be a bad pillow and incredibly bored, but Ranboo is still respectful of those who wish to sleep on him. 

He didn’t want to wake Tubbo up, they seemed so peaceful. 

As the thought crossed the taller boy’s mind, Tubbo’s body twitched. His face turned, leaning further into Ranboo’s suit. This seemed to further interest the bees, bringing more closer to the pair. 

Tubbo let out a heavy sigh and lifted his head off of the other’s chest. 

“Evening,” Ranboo greeted him genuinely.

Still not facing the other, Tubbo looked down to the iron ingot in his hand. Ranboo watched it too, as the smaller one’s thumb ran along its smooth surface.

“You, uh, sleep well?” The taller awkwardly asked, uncomfortable in silence.

Tubbo put the ingot into his inventory as he responded, “Yeah- yeah. A bit chilly, though.”

Ranboo ignored how the coolness does, in fact, help with Tubbo’s sleep. 

“How long was I out?”

Ranboo looked out the large glass dome, the sun now fully set. 

“I mean,” He said, wincing, “I was napping too… It was only rising when you fell asleep… It could’ve been a day, could’ve been more.”

There were multiple pauses in his response where Tubbo could have said something, but they seemed too lost in thought.

“Did I wake you up?” Ranboo asked, again feeling the prickliness of silence.

Tubbo turned to him in concern with the shake of his head, “No, I think it was… Um…”

They turned away again, furrowing their eyebrows and gaining a shade of red to their cheeks. Ranboo watched this odd display of emotions patiently.

“My dream ended, I guess,” Tubbo said.

Ranboo smiled and replied, “That’s good then, right? Dreaming means you got a full REM cycle and all that, right?”

Tubbo’s shoulders fell, and Ranboo’s smile slowly followed.

“Wanna talk about it?” He offered.

Tubbo sat crossed legged, looking down blankly at his hands in his lap. 

They replied softly, “I’m usually able to forget it all. I can just… _Ignore_ it. If I try hard enough.”

His hands balled into fists. The aura around him thinned, turning to the familiar air of guilt. Ranboo wasn’t too familiar with how the stages of grief worked, but he recognized when Tubbo went through all five of them whenever the subject had to do with Tommy. The aura around the smaller became light and thin, indicating they were deep in thought. Ranboo traced the aura with his eyes, knowing Tubbo was thinking of any way to get his best friend back, and letting him. 

“You can…” Tubbo chuckled darkly, “You can probably see why I haven’t been… a fan of _sleeping_ lately.”

Their head tilted upwards.

“Was the dream bad, though?” Ranboo asked, knowing the answer. Tubbo’s head fell dramatically.

He mumbled, “No… no. It was good.”

The other repeated his offer without speaking. 

Tubbo let out a sigh.

“At first, it wasn’t as good. I was like, stuck on the roof of the nether, right? But then I went through a portal. It ended up… like, at the bottom of the L’Manberg crater, beneath the water, or something, and my air went down super fast,” They rambled, “And I used a trident to get out, but then I was like, stuck. In the air. And then Wil- Ghostbur floated up and gave me a new compass. A new… I think.”

He stopped to process his dream. 

“Yeah. I don't know if it had the words, but it was the same as before,” He nodded.

Ranboo nodded as well, following along.

“But I was still in the air,” Tubbo continued speaking and turned his body to his friend, still with his legs crossed but much more lively, “So I ender pearl-ed down, and then-“

He paused again.

“You and Tommy- yeah. You two were there all happy to- to see me, and stuff.”

Tubbo’s eyes softened with the bittersweet reminiscence. 

“And we ran around L’Manberg. Going into people’s houses and… unsuccessfully stole everyone’s items…” He laughed.

“Felt like old times, but… with you there too,” Tubbo spoke with a smile as he met his friend’s mismatched eyes.

“Can’t wait for it to happen again,” Ranboo replied, his voice holding more positivity than he felt.

The last of the bees went into their hives, making the room fully silent as the moonlight shone through the glass dome. Cool light slowly painted inch after inch of the walls, and the pair of kids still sitting on their beds. 

“Again,” Tubbo echoed, “Yeah, me too.”


End file.
